


Something Much More Important In Mind

by rawshark



Category: Shrek (Movies)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Animation, Babies, Dreamworks, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fatherhood, Gen, Inspired by Shrek (Movies), Mentioned Shrek (Shrek), Motherhood, Movie: Shrek 2, Movie: Shrek Forever After, Movie: Shrek the Third, Ogres, Other, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Shrek References, Shrek is Love Shrek is Life, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22143511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rawshark/pseuds/rawshark
Summary: A collection of short stories centered around Shrek and Fiona's children, and how they turn their parents' lives completely upside down.
Relationships: Fiona/Shrek (Shrek), Shrek (Shrek) / Fiona (Shrek)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. Happy Birthday

Fiona blinked up toward the ceiling, her breathing hard and ragged, a mixture of sweat and tears falling down her face. The hardest part was over.

Every soft, fabric-based item in the house had been shoved behind her, allowing her to sit as upright as possible - which wasn't very much - with as little effort as possible.

"Yer beautiful."

She closed her eyes as she allowed her mouth to curve into the smallest smile, in spite of everything; she would have laughed, had her lungs cooperated.

"Oh yes— I— I'm sure I am— _stunningly_ gorgeous— right— right now." The killing blow of Fiona's sarcasm was diluted with the intermittent wheeze.

"Ye are."

Fiona felt her heart shoot up into her throat, which she had to swallow back into place. She raised her head slightly and half-opened her eyes to look at her husband, kneeling on the bed two feet in front of her. Shrek placed a very light hand on her knee. Even in the soft candlelight of the dark bedroom, his eyes pierced through to hers. They held too many emotions for Fiona to begin to identify; she supposed her own expression may have had the same quality.

"Shut up." Fiona placed her own hand atop his, kneading his fingers as she placed her head back and closed her eyes, and swallowed.

They sat in silence for what felt much longer than the handful of seconds it was, when Fiona suddenly sharply inhaled, quickly nodding back into her cushions. She let go of Shrek's hand as he withdrew it, subconsciously nodding along with her. She screamed behind gritted teeth, which eventually gave way to an open mouth, as she poured her last ounce of energy into the final push.

And then it was over.

She crumbled back into the pillows, her breath desperately trying to catch up with the rest of her. She looked back up toward the ceiling, her whole body reverberating.

And then she heard it.

The gurgle quickly broke into quick, loud cries that filled the small bedroom. Fiona choked out a sob as the pain dissipated from her body, the beautiful sound filling every inch of her. She opened her eyes, the wide smile on her face making her own weeping feel like laughing; she supposed it was, in a way.

Fiona lifted her head and saw her husband, transfixed on what was in his hands just out of view. A tiny arm and a tiny leg shot jerkily up, the wailing only having grown louder and stronger.

Shrek's head snapped up as Fiona stirred, and he flushed, as if suddenly remembering where he was.

"Righ' righ' ye probably, ah—" He gingerly placed the infant on Fiona's chest as he attempted to compose himself.

Her trembling hands immediately held the little ogre to her, little hands and feet firing at random, and the world seemed to stop just for her.

A baby.

Fiona let a fresh wave of tears overtake her as she joined in with her child's sobs.

 _Her_ baby.

"Hi, honey," she eked out, peering down onto the tiny head peppered with freckles, a few wispy curls stuck flat to it. She caught glimpses of half of a face, as a flailing little hand tried to block out the new brightness of candlelight.

"I know I— I know," she breathed shakily, "It's— it's bright out here— and cold probably," she chuckled in spite of herself as she held the baby closer to her, "but I've got you, Mama's got you—"

Fiona blinked, as the words she had just said registered in her mind; her smile widened as she nodded through another sob. "Yeah, Mama's got you."

She'd had a _baby_.

She closed her eyes and gently shushed the newborn who continued to wail into her, when a large sniffle caught her ear. Fiona raised her head to look at her husband, who she had almost forgotten was there in front of her. Shrek was gazing at her - at _them_ \- his eyes and nose uncorked, his shoulders raising and lowering in shudders. He was clearly just as surprised it was happening to him as she was, though he wasn't necessarily trying to stop it.

 _They_ had a baby.

She beamed at her puddle of a husband. "Contagious— isn't it?"

He chuckled at them, which was more of a choke, and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Aye, well, the li'l booger started it." He smiled at his wife, and his eyes fell to the little ogre in her arms.

Fiona's gaze followed his. "Yeah, yeah the little…" she began to coo, before she stopped and blinked. "Wait what's— _Shrek_ you didn't check the—"

"Wha— _oh_ , ah—"

Fiona gently shifted the baby to lay in the crook of her arm, still held high against her chest, which elicited even stronger protests from the infant.

"I _know_ , it's even brighter and colder like this, I'm sorry," she murmured in between shushes. Shrek suddenly realized he had a stack of towels beside him and hastily offered one to his wife, which she gladly accepted, having forgotten about them herself.

Fiona beamed down at the child, swallowing back another happy sob. "It's a boy."

Shrek chuckled past the hitch in his breath. "Yah, makes sense."

The infant blinked his eyes open at the change in position, and looked up at his mother. Fiona looked down in awe into a familiar pair of brown eyes, before his hands haphazardly jerked in front of his face to shield the light.

Shrek sniffed again as he held his hand to shade his son's eyes from the flickering candlelight, his other hand finding its way to his wife's shoulder.

Fiona placed the back of her pinky in the baby's open palm, and his fingers immediately closed around it as he began to settle. She and Shrek smiled up at each other as they looked down over him, and Fiona held his hand with her thumb. She brought him up closer to kiss him, when he decided to start wailing again, right into both of their faces.

" _Oh my_ _gosh_ ," she exhaled in self-aware amusement, as she quickly raised her head back up, shushing him in vain. Shrek followed suit, just as impressed as he was surprised. "Already got his roar down 'n ev'rything."

The parents looked at each other with a knowing glint.

"Farkle?" Fiona offered, less of a suggestion and more of a confirmation.

Shrek nodded and chuckled his agreement. "Aye— tha's Farkle all righ'."

* * *

Shrek had placed the crib on the bed beside Fiona, so that she could comfortably let Farkle hold onto her pinky through the slats in the side. It seemed to be the only thing that kept him calm… well, as calm as he was able to be, which amounted to sucking one hand's thumb while trying to shield his eyes with the hand that held Fiona's finger, fussing periodically.

Fiona splayed and tensed her occupied hand, as an alternative to clenching it into a fist along with her other as she pushed through the contraction. She wasn't sure if it actually just wasn't getting any easier, or if it was because she was keeping herself from screaming.

She opened her eyes to the earth ceiling, then looked to her side at her son. She smiled and rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, relishing in the distraction.

She turned her attention to her husband, and her small window of reprieve was slammed shut as she saw the concern on his face as he looked downward.

"What?" Fiona hoped he was just concentrating very intently.

Shrek's eyes flickered up to her, and he realized his unease was leading to _her_ unease. He tried to lighten his expression, and chuckled dryly. "We got ourselves a, ah… shy lil' booger."

She allowed herself half a second to try to decipher his asinine statement. "... _What_?" She may have otherwise appreciated an attempt at humor, but she knew he wasn't being funny.

"He's ah… givin' me the two-cheek salute."

"...He?" Fiona exhaled, ignoring everything else.

Shrek half-smiled, in spite of himself. "Oh aye, yah, definitely a he."

Fiona let herself enjoy that news, before the reason of _how_ he was able to know that became abundantly clear.

"So… then he's…" she gestured vaguely as to what she suspected.

"Yah, he's…" Shrek mimicked her hand motions.

Fiona brought her free hand down and around the back of her leg, just to be absolutely sure for herself. She exhaled in acknowledgement, a short chuckle minus any amusement. "Yeah… yeah that's… a little butt." Shrek echoed her mirthless laugh. They looked at each other a moment, unsure of what to do next.

"So…" Shrek offered, his eyes flicking down again and then back to his wife.

"Well, just… just let him, you know…" she made a couple more indicative gestures, "Don't—"

"Oh aye, aye, yah." He nodded quickly and earnestly, subconsciously leaning back as he spoke, and she nodded as well.

Fiona glanced over at Farkle, who was unfortunately nearly totally settled down, but not yet asleep. She rubbed his hand, and slipped her finger from his grasp. "I'm sorry Farkle baby, I'll be right back." She locked eyes with Shrek for the couple seconds to spare before nodding, and grabbed the back of her knees as she screamed in her throat, mouth closed. She took another breath midway and doubled her efforts, and couldn't help but scream out as she dug her head back into the cushions. She slowly deflated, spent, her lungs burning for more air than they could contain—

" _Fi, C'MON_!"

The urgent voice of her husband shocked her adrenaline into one last go she didn't know was in her. Her scream faltered into a sob as she pressed her fists against her forehead, until she was finally done.

Fiona sank into the trench she'd pressed into the pillows as the room spun around her. As the ringing in her ears diminished and her lungs fought against her ribcage, the singular thought occurred to her: she didn't hear anything.

That wasn't entirely true: she could hear Farkle begin to fuss next to her, she could hear her own heaving breaths, she could even hear the rustling of the tall grass in an evening breeze outside the bedroom window.

But she wasn't hearing what she should have been hearing.

She waited one agonizing, quiet second longer. She didn't want to open her eyes, but she had to, so did. She lifted her head and saw her husband, once again transfixed on something just below her eyeline, but his expression was all wrong. His eyes met hers, wide and scared, and quickly snapped back down. Her chest suddenly felt very heavy.

Why wasn't she hearing anything.

She willed herself up on one arm, to see what she specifically did not want to; and she did see, if only for a split-second, before her elbow buckled under her from a sudden, intense contraction. She couldn't talk, couldn't move, and could only scream uselessly in agony. She forced her eyes open and watched Shrek struggle out of view, watched his face slowly contort as his hands moved rapidly. Farkle was also full-blown crying again, wondering why his mother stopped holding his hand.

Fiona forced herself up again the second the contraction subsided, and what she saw would be burned in her memory: her second son, face-down over Shrek's fingers, not crying, not moving, while Shrek rubbed his back with the edge of his burlap sleeve. She felt herself scream her husband's name, but she didn't hear it; she couldn't hear her firstborn, or her husband, or the grass, or anything.

Shrek lifted the infant on his hand up between them both, still rubbing his sleeve against his back, his other sleeve on his chest, and tapped his back lightly with a single thumb as tears trickled from his eyes. Fiona felt the world screech to a halt, and spin out of control all at once as she looked on, frozen and screaming.

She should've listened to her mother she should've had someone in attendance someone to help if something happened if something went—

The world around her suddenly burst back into her ears as a tiny, wet cough finally sputtered from the little thing, and his limbs jerked to life. The splutter grew into cries, rapid and breathless, as he flailed and kicked on his father's giant hand.

Fiona and Shrek looked frantically from the baby up to each other, relief crashing upon them both in waves as they realized... they were okay. They were all okay. They both began falling apart again, this time in desperate gratitude. Shrek continued gently rubbing and tapping, and the crying grew louder, to both of their intense relief.

"Tha's my li'l man!" Shrek choked, his voice breaking at the end of his sentence as he placed the boy on Fiona's chest. He finally succumbed and sobbed into his sleeve.

Fiona sobbed down onto the baby's head, rubbing her own burlap sleeve against his back, feeling each rapid cry and gasp for breath against her own skin. "Hey— h-hey— hey—" she gasped frantically in between shushes, "You— you can't go— _scaring_ Mama and— and Daddy— like that— y-you— alm— almost—" she barely choked out the last words before giving up on speaking, instead rocking him side to side, silently crying along.

Shrek turned back to them, sniffing hard as he roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He looked down at the baby in Fiona's arms, then up at her in a semi-daze. She grabbed her husband's face with a free hand, gratitude and hysteria flowing from her tear ducts.

"How— how'd you— you _know_ to—"

"I jus'— tha' book yer mum— it— it had—"

Fiona shook her head, unable to take in any more information, and muttered muddled thank you's into Shrek while the baby still wailed into her. She would rather have horrible nightmares every single night - hell, she'd rather be sent back to the tower - before she'd want to experience that ever again.

Shrek just held her into him, not quite yet able to let himself process what all exactly had just transpired.

Fiona separated from her husband, and looked down at the little boy. "Y-you made it," she cooed shakily, keeping herself from succumbing to another wave of sobs. "You're so— strong and— and brave, do you know that? Y-yes— yes you are…" she thumbed across his bald little head and kissed it, before very carefully shifting him to lay in the crook of her arm. Shrek grabbed a towel, and they both made sure he was okay in the new position before continuing to enjoy the moment.

"Keepin' me on my toes already there, li'l man," Shrek breathed unevenly through a trembling smile, and put the tip of his pinky in his palm. The baby opened his eyes, and Fiona observed the moment, before offering her husband the baby. Shrek looked at his wife in confusion - _she_ needed to hold him, he'd already done so… technically. But she nodded, and after kissing him again, placed him in Shrek's arms.

Still unable to find his breath, Shrek held the impossibly tiny boy up closer to him, his pinky still securely held, and looked him in his sleepy brown eyes. "Hey— hey there, li'l man," Shrek murmured. "D'ye mind if I call ye tha'? It— it suits ye, if ye ask me." The little one yawned and started to suck his fingers, and Shrek chuckled lightly, enraptured. "Gave us a wee fright back there, ye did… but don't worry, we've got ye now, Mama's got ye, and—" his voice caught in his throat, which he swallowed back down to complete his thought, "—and Daddy's got ye." Hearing the name - coming from his own mouth, no less - was... something else.

"I _know_ , your brother needed a— a little help, I'm sorry, shhhh…" Shrek raised his eyes to see Fiona rocking a fussy Farkle, held up close to her, her finger firmly occupied once again. He smiled proudly at the pair, which Fiona seemed to sense, as she looked up and returned the smile. He then looked back at the new addition he held, who looked back and held him just as tight.

"Ye wanna meet yer big brother there... Fergus?" Shrek looked at his wife, to check her approval of the name. Fiona's lips parted and her eyes widened, which immediately closed as she nodded, tears falling down her smiling face.

* * *

"He's _fine_ , Fi," Shrek reassured his wife, who hadn't taken her eyes off Fergus in the crib next to his brother, even through the contraction that had just passed. Shrek took the opportunity to covertly look in his direction himself.

It didn't help that he seemed to be naturally less high-strung than Farkle, who was still very much protesting the whole being-born thing. The rapid rise and fall of Fergus's tiny chest, and the rhythmic sucking sound of his fingers were luckily substantial assurances; still, it didn't keep both parents from stealing frequent glances in his direction.

For all the trouble the expertly-timed contraction caused during the earlier hysteria, baby number three now seemed perfectly content to take their sweet time. It had been several minutes between contractions, which weren't even particularly eventful.

Fiona held her hand out over both babies, to let them hold or suck on whichever of her fingers they wanted; when her hand got tired, Shrek would take over, as they had done a couple times already.

"There _are_ three, yah?" Shrek asked cheekily, having sat on the side of the bed next to the crib many minutes ago. He let his hand rest comfortably on Fiona's knee.

Fiona raised her head slightly, opening her eyes a sliver. "Oh, there's a third, all right." Her smile was so microscopic, that it was only the small puff of air that escaped her nose that let Shrek know she wasn't shooting daggers at him with her reply… not many daggers, at least.

"Jus' checkin', is all," he responded with faux innocence, his thumb subconsciously rubbing her knee.

The only thing Fiona really wanted at that point was a crying, moving baby. Not much to ask, one would think, but... apparently not.

She shook out her baby-finger arm, it finally getting fatigued from the odd angle she held it at. Shrek extended his arm over the crib in its place, and positioned a finger easily accessible for both boys. After a moment, however, Shrek looked at Fiona, and instead gently picked up Farkle, and held him close while offering a finger. Farkle unsuccessfully attempted to put his father's giant pinky in his mouth, to which he let go and settled on his own thumb, much to his parents' amusement. He was, nevertheless, upset by the results, as he had let go of the giant pinky.

Fiona gazed at the pair, before shifting her focus to Fergus, and brushed a finger down his cheek. He cooed approvingly, and turned his head into her touch. Her heart fluttered, and yet she couldn't help but smirk at the stark difference between their two sons already.

"Well… if this little stinker wants to _take their time_ ," Fiona exhaled as she moved to sit more upright, "maybe we can get some more time in with—"

Her thought was cut short as she was greeted with a contraction intense enough to make up for the previous chunk of time, and then some. Fiona groaned, which quickly grew into a scream.

Shrek's head snapped around to her, his eyes widening. "Whoa - I think they heard ye!" He gently placed Farkle back down next to Fergus, and climbed back on the bed to retake his position.

Not five seconds after the first one subsided, another started up, even bigger than its predecessor. Fiona indicated to her husband it wasn't letting up anything soon with a fervent nod in between, to which he raised an eyebrow, both in concern as well as shock. A third followed suit.

"Oh _godmother…_ " Fiona whimpered, turning her face into her cushion pile - away from the babies - as she screamed in full voice into the sound-dampening pillows.

"Well we've got a head, so tha's— wh- _whoa_ , Fi! Slown down!"

"Do _not_ tell me to slow down!"

"Alrigh' fine, _don_ ' slow down, jus'— _criminy_ are ye—"

"Stop _yelling_ at me!"

"I'm not _yellin'_ atcha I'm— encouragin' ye!"

"WELL IT _FEELS_ LIKE YOU'RE _YELLING!_ "

" _Yer_ the one yellin'!"

" _OF COURSE I'M YELLING I'M-_ " Fiona stopped arguing for no reason with her husband, and grasped in the air with her free hand, the other crushing the fistful of the temporary straw mattress topper to dust. Shrek took the flailing hand in his, and watched her in awe as she squeezed the life out of it.

Shrek slipped his hand out at the very last minute, and Fiona collapsed into her cushions, sobbing and stunned. She wasn't granted a very long rest, as she was nearly instantly greeted with the beautiful sound of a shrill, impassioned newborn cry in front of her. She not only heard her own sobs, and the baby's, but also her husband's… laughter? She couldn't help but join in, though how much was crying and how much was laughter was debatable. "W-What's so funny, hon?"

Shrek chuckled as he wiped his nose on his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the latest arrival in his hands.

"Whatta little diva, can't let'er brothers have a morsel attention more than'er."

Fiona stopped mid-sweep of her hair from her face, when she looked her husband in the eye, processing his full sentence.

"...Is… is it—" Fiona's voice faltered as she attempted to push herself slightly more upright again, while watching Shrek lift the newborn up toward her.

"Aye," he exhaled, nodding as he laid the baby girl on her mother's chest, the last time he would do so. Fiona didn't take her eyes from his until the baby was in her arms, when they went down onto the child. Shrek offered a towel and helped place it over the two, then sat back on his heels and watched the scene unfold in front of him, the one he knew Fiona had been waiting a very long time for.

The baby girl wailed into her mother, and all Fiona could do was hold her tight to her and cry. She warmed up and dried off the baby with the towel, and shushed down onto her wispy-haired head.

"Hi, Felicia," Fiona choked. She said the name before she knew what was happening, and looked up at her husband. He nodded, a broad smile already spread wide across his face, as he brushed his thumb down the chubby little arm that had poked out of the towel. He looked up at his astounding, _stunningly gorgeous_ wife, and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, knowing they would fall again when she looked down at their daughter. But that was okay. He would brush them away again.

Fiona lowered her head and kissed Felicia's cheek, as she began to settle. "Was— was all that really necessary?" She chuckled to herself, and then looked up at her husband, who apologetically joined in. She shifted the baby into the crook of her arm, adjusting the towel away from her face, and the little girl slowly blinked her eyes open. Fiona audibly gasped as she saw her crystal blue eyes, and Shrek had to will himself to keep composed as he did, as well.

Fiona looked to the side to Farkle and Fergus, and then back down to Felicia. They were all here. Safe. Healthy. Finally.

She placed Felicia back down onto her chest, and glanced at her sons, then to her husband. He gently picked up each boy, and placed them on either side of their sister, and repositioned the towel. Fiona wrapped her arms around her children, not especially sure how she'd gotten there, but not daring to question it.

"So… how's it feel?"

She raised her head at the voice, and found Shrek gazing at them all again.

Fiona looked up to the ceiling, hoping to keep any new water in her eyes.

"Really good," she choked, and began to chuckle, which didn't help her contain herself. She looked down at the babies that lay against her, and gravity dictated new tears roll down her face.

"Aye, I thought s'much." Shrek smiled broadly, as he leaned forward to kiss her. They looked at each other a moment longer, as they realized life as they knew it would never be the same.

"...You know," Fiona offered, quickly glancing down at them all again, "we should really diaper them up right now, before we forget. We don't want—"

"Ooh, yah. Good call."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not nearly as Spicy(TM) as my other work, "Now, Where Were We?" but definitely along the same lines; you know, giving them depth and emotions and shit.
> 
> For all they go on about a sTrOnG fEmAlE gIrL bOsS, Fiona specifically gets shafted as being their mother in the films - they only ever say Daddy. SHE has to say Mama in Scared Shrekless. What the fuck Dreamworks. Shrek The Third doesn't even show her pregnant, just jumps to visually-three-months-old-but-full-ass-walking-and-coloring infants.
> 
> I know, newborns don't have their permanent eye color at birth. They're oGrEs... so they're basically biologically identical to humans, save for the obvious parts, and the parts that are convenient for my writing. Haha
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave a review if you enjoyed! Big thanks to hanny spoon over at FFN.


	2. News

A large pinecone cut through the humid summer air, sailing in a perfect spiral, and ricocheted off a thick tree trunk before finally landing in a bush.

" _Nice_ ," Farkle muttered, more to himself than his siblings beside him, and clenched his fist in victory. He started after the pinecone, before a sharp smack on his shoulder stopped him. He whipped around to confront its source. "OW, Fel-"

"Can we focus, please?" She raised an eyebrow at him, tilting her head up slightly to meet his eyeline. Off Felicia's opposite shoulder, Fergus couldn't help but briefly smirk in amusement, looking away quickly as to not be noticed.

"Focus on what? I thought we'd, you know, already come to a conclusion." He rotated his prized throwing shoulder that his sister dared injure, and quickened his pace to keep up with them.

"A conclusion, sure. But… what are we going to _do_ about that conclusion…" Though Felicia's choice of words suggested a question, she trailed off, making even her question seem uncertain.

The "short" walk the siblings had gone off on earlier that morning had turned into a much longer outing than they had anticipated. Their parents had seemed a bit out of it anyway, so it wasn't hard slipping out of the house; hopefully they wouldn't get too hard a chastising for being out so long and not helping with the day's chores. How useful the three would've been, however, was debatable anyway, with everything that had been on their minds the last few weeks.

Their parents - well, their father mainly - had told them about the ogre tradition of "Leaving Day" several years ago, on the eve of their thirteenth birthday. In telling them about the tradition, he told them, in so many words, about his own Leaving Day. Sensing their ambivalence, their mother added that she'd even had her own "Leaving Day" of sorts, at around the same age, without even being aware of the tradition. (It neither lightened, nor worsened the mood.) Shrek emphasized that it would be completely their choice, and that it would even be their decision whether or not to take part in it at all. And Fiona offered the suggestion that they could even do it together - that is, if they wanted to do it, of course.

Aside from that, no one had really brought it up in the four, nearly five years since - not Shrek, certainly not Fiona, and not the triplets. Because they themselves didn't want to leave.

Well… _hadn't_ wanted to leave.

It's not like they didn't want to _be_ there anymore. Rather, everything that wasn't "there" - their home, Far Far Away, or evening Duloc - was where they _did_ want to be. Even if they didn't know where that was exactly. They had always marveled at the stories Uncle Puss had regaled them with, both about his own adventures as well as those he embarked on with their parents, much to the chagrin of the ogres. Even Uncle Artie couldn't help but reminisce about the things he'd done and seen out there.

Their parents, however, made it quite clear that they were finally - _finally_ \- done with their unintentionally adventurous life. As their father put it, often enough that they could quote it verbatim, he and Fiona "had far 'nough drama 'n intrigue fer a lifetime." And while that may have been true, it was only true for _their_ lifetimes. There were three others that neither of them could speak for.

The siblings passed under the fallen moss-covered dead tree that hung over the well-worn path - the boys needing to duck slightly even under the taller end - signaling they were in the last stretch before reaching home.

Felicia halted, in the long shadow just past the fallen trunk. "We need to tell them."

Her brothers stopped, a couple steps ahead of her, and slowly turned to face her. Their eyes told her they knew she was right, not that they necessarily wanted her to be in that instance.

Sensing Farkle tense in an obligatory argument, she continued. "You both know Mom would know something was up if we tried to keep it from them- _her_. And Dad… well. He'd just want to know, without us hiding anything."

Farkle reflexively smoothed his messy hair back from his face, avoiding looking at either of them.

Fergus's concerned gaze fell from Felicia's to the ground. "Aye." He put his hands in his pockets. His eyes darted around in thought, and he quickly looked back up at them. "But we don't even have a timeframe, a date yet—"

"Why do we need one?" Farkle posited - for once, not for argument's sake, but as a genuine question. There was no sarcasm in his voice or expression.

Felicia was about to counter him, out of habit herself, but stopped as she considered his point.

Fergus finally raised his head calmly. "If anything, letting them know - in general terms, our decision - would be… better, right? Even if we did have a date in mind, them knowing we had everything planned might come across as… a little eager." His siblings slightly deflated in acknowledgement. As much as none of them were particularly fond of vagueness, it was the best they had at the moment.

If only they could have all the positives associated with Leaving Day, without any of the irritating emotional technicalities.

"So." Farkle stated, trying to solidify what little could be in their predicament. "Who's gonna tell 'em?" He looked between his two siblings.

Fergus and Felicia both glanced aside at each other, and then settled their gaze at their brother. A moment passed, and Farkle recognized their dual focus with displeasure.

"Oh come on!" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "Why's it gotta be me?" His fists landed on his hips, creating an eerily familiar silhouette.

"Well," Felicia offered plainly, "You asked." The corner of her mouth curved ever so slightly.

"I'll just, like, say something that'll make this way harder than it needs to be-"

"That's a good point." Fergus muttered, immediately looking up at Farkle in fear, clearly not having meant to say it out loud.

" _Hey_ -" Farkle pointed a finger at Fergus, leaning forward toward him.

"Okay okay okay-" Felicia stepped directly in between them, gently pushing them apart in jest. She looked up - they'd made it to just about a hundred meters from the forest's opening onto the swamp. She saw the smoke billowing from the chimney, took in the way the quickly-setting sun shone off the grass and vines that surrounded the only home they'd ever known. Her brothers turned to look as well, and she felt them settle on either side of her.

"Well then," she began, wrapping her arms around herself, "Since we don't even have a concrete plan on what we're doing about… all this, let's just… see how it goes. Yeah? It'll happen how it'll happen. They'll-" she stopped - she was _not_ about to cry, not now. "They'll get it."

Farkle and Fergus placed a hand on each of Felicia's shoulders, which she met with her own hand atop of them. Suddenly, she threw her arms around their necks and pulled them down to her level. They all laughed as the boys stumbled, replanting their feet in their familiar triangle formation as they pressed their foreheads together. They looked between each other in their huddle and smiled. They nodded in unison, and broke out of their formation as they headed toward the edge of their swamp.

Halfway to the house, past the reed-lined, scum-filled pond, their father's head poked out of the front door.

"Oh no…" Fergus sighed under his breath, waiting to hear him bellow irately at them.

"Kids! Hurry on inside, would ye? We, ah - we have somethin' t'tell ye…" Their father didn't wait for a response, and his head disappeared back into the house, the door remaining half open.

The triplets' stride slowed, as they glanced between each other in mild confusion - their dad certainly didn't sound incensed, or even mildly peeved. He sounded… anxious? Now that was a state they hadn't often seen out of him. As they processed this surprising reaction, they jogged the rest of the way to the front door.

"We, uh… we do _too_ , actually—" Farkle breathed as he grabbed the handle. Felicia gave him a look, to which he mouthed " _What?_ " She shook her head quickly and waved her hand in dismissal.

Their mother sat at the dinner table, in her usual seat, her hands around a mug of tea - a lumpy, hand-sculpted clay cup from so long ago that no one in the family could remember which sibling had made it, not even the kids themselves.

As the three silhouettes of her children entered the sunlit doorway, Fiona lifted her head quickly and smiled at them; she tried to obscure the fact she'd been lost in thought moments before, but her fingers repeatedly tracing the rim of the mug said otherwise.

"You're back." Her warm voice and smile almost made the three of them want to abandon ship right then and there. They could feel one another tense slightly in their close proximity.

Fiona's words made Shrek turn his head, and the sudden sight of his children in the small house's foyer made him choke. He luckily recovered with little incident, though not without his breathless insistence he was fine as he made his way to his seat at the head of the table.

"Kids-" he coughed, giving himself a couple more chest pounds for safety, "Go on, have a seat."

Tenderness, to alarm, to continued confusion - the triplets subtly looked to each other for answers they knew none of them had as they found their way to their seats: Fergus beside their mother, Felicia and Farkle next to their father.

Fiona patted her husband's back, less to aid him and more to bring him back to the moment. "You good?" she smirked, speaking low.

He returned her glance. "Aye." He placed his hand on her knee beside his underneath the table. Their mother's hands returned to hold her tea, as if for warmth; Felicia noticed internally, however, the lack of steam coming off the beverage, as if it had been made quite some time ago.

An odd second passed, the siblings looking expectantly at their parents, and their parents looking right back at them.

"Uh… didn't you guys have something to tell us?" Fergus offered carefully, lest they sit there past sunset.

The couple's eyes suddenly lit up, half in remembering, half in embarrassment, and they looked at each other with a half smile.

"Oh! Well, _yes_ ," Fiona replied, "But, didn't you say you also had something, dear?" Her attention turned to Farkle, whose statement she'd heard when they entered.

"I um-" Felicia started, before Farkle could reply, "Well… you and Dad should go first, I think. You're the ones who called us in and all." Her brothers nodded in agreement - not _too_ enthusiastically, fortunately.

"...Right! Yah. That's, ah… yah." Shrek acknowledged his daughter's observation, almost in spite of himself but covered with a nervous grin.

"Are you guys… okay?" Farkle asked. All four ogres turned to him, all surprised at his out-of-character concern.

"Of course, Fark, we're fine. We're… really good." Fiona's last sentence was directed at no one in particular it seemed, as one hand left her mug and rested on Shrek's below the table, and she inhaled deliberately.

The couple looked up to see their children's confused, concerned faces, not a sight they were used to seeing. They internally wilted, embarrassed at their clear lack of a grasp on the situation. They placed their joined hands atop the table, and glanced at each other quickly.

"Well, kids," Fiona said, smiling at each teenager individually, Shrek following suit. "Your father and I- or, well… rather-" She found her fingers tracing the mug's rim again, and stopped herself. She squeezed her husband's hand lightly.

"I'm pregnant."

Any trace of concerned faded from the triplets' expressions, and were replaced by… well, they couldn't really say what. They couldn't really say anything, having been rendered immobile and mute.

Their silence was Fiona's fervent cue to fill it. "I'm- well, we're as sure as we can be at this point, but… I'm pretty sure." She laughed deliberately.

Fergus looked across the table at Felicia and Farkle, still unable to speak, but he could feel his eyes widening against his will, and observed the same in them. He knew their lack of response wasn't helpful in any way, but he couldn't muster one if he tried.

"So…" Fiona continued, taking another deep breath, "You're gonna have a new little brother or sister." She looked between her children, their faces still frozen. Felicia attempted to open her mouth, before her father beat her to it.

"...'Or,' Fi?" He offered lightly. "D'ye really think we'll be able t'get only-"

"Shrek-"

"I'm- I'm just _sayin_ ' based on our- _track record_ -"

" _Shrek_ -"

"I mean that'd be _nice_ , but I dunno how _likely_ -"

"Shrek I said _pregnant_ because we don't _know_ any of that yet that's why I didn't _say_ 'having a baby' I don't even _know_ for sure if I _am_ but I am pretty damn _sure_ I am and now is _not_ the time so please just-" Fiona's rapid rambling threatened to tip the scales.

"Hey hey hey hey, I'm sorry, hey hey hey…" Shrek held her face close to his, wiping a stray tear with his thumb.

Through her stunned silence, as her coherency struggled to break through, Felicia observed a small look between her parents as they sat face-to-face, thoroughly unaware or unconcerned they were all sitting there. She saw, in both of their faces, a brief flash of… fear? Perhaps not the same fear that she guessed may have been there seventeen, eighteen odd years ago, but a similar kind. And a reassurance that the other - and themselves - would be okay.

Felicia looked to Farkle and Fergus, and while she couldn't say if the same thoughts occurred to them, she could tell at the very least, that the gravity of their situation had come crashing down upon them just as it had upon her in that moment. They all blinked, seeming to finally break free of their group catatonia.

Shrek and Fiona seemed to remember where they were and who they were with, and they sat back up slowly. Fiona pinched the bridge of her nose and inhaled forcefully, insisting composure return to her.

"Now then...! Heh." Shrek suddenly piped up, his head whipping back to his children, instantly hellbent on lightening the mood. "Wish we'da kept all yer furniture! 'N clothes-"

"I did keep most of their clothes, hon-" Fiona said, half whispered.

"Oh! Aye, good t'-"

Fiona suddenly held up her hand and sighed, stopping herself and her husband, and rubbed her face with her other.

"I'm sorry, kids. This has been…" she glanced at their father, "Well, quite a day."

Shrek nodded slowly, falling into a thousand-yard stare off into the distance, before snapping himself out of it.

"Oh! Ah… yah, sorry guys. So! What was it ye lot wanted t'tell us?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, for something completely different!
> 
> hanny spoon over at FFN created the concept of "Leaving Day" in their work "Shrek Goes Fourth," and I was very fascinated by it and its implications. With their permission, I'm referencing it here.
> 
> I'm not married to this timeline. I have other ideas for long-in-the-future possibilities. I'm not sure I consider this my own "canon." It's just an interesting scenario. 
> 
> middleaged!Shrek&Fiona is fascinating. It's weird trying to assign an age to Shrek, but if Fiona is maybe... 25(?) going off her human appearance, Shrek is probably around there too, going off his human form. So they'd be in their early 40s here. 
> 
> ALSO, she may not even really be pregnant. WhO kNoWs.
> 
> (Also, not sure if this is even relevant, but I imagine in this scenario, the kids are not aware of the Rumpelstiltskin contract or any of what happened in Forever After.)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you enjoyed. :)


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